The invention relates to a device for vertically and horizontally adjusting a sliding cover for a vehicle body member such as a roof.
In a known device (German Pat. No. 12 05850), the guide shoe support is provided with lengthwise slots running at right angles to the lengthwise axis, with bolts extending through said lengthwise slots and fastening the guide shoe supports to a holder mounted on the sliding cover. By loosening these bolts, the sliding cover can be slid relative to the guide shoe support at right angles to the lengthwise axis of the vehicle, thus permitting lateral adjustment. A locking bolt for height adjustment of the sliding cover is guided in a lengthwise slot in the guide shoe support, said bolt likewise being threaded into the above-mentioned holder and raising or lowering the sliding cover relative to the guide shoe support as the bolt is turned. Hence, the sliding cover can be adjusted heightwise in such a manner that it is flush with the solid part of the vehicle roof when in the closed position.
In this known device, the guide shoe support must extend inward at a relatively large distance from the lateral edge of the cover, so that the bolts which on the one hand fasten the guide shoe support to the sliding cover and on the other hand permit height adjustment of the sliding cover and are disposed vertically, are accessible from below. When the sliding cover consists of a transparent panel held only at its edges by a frame, which supports the guide elements for the cover, this guide shoe support would extend far out into the transparent area of the sliding cover, resulting in an undesirable appearance, or the cover frame would have to be made correspondingly wide, thus reducing the transparent area of the cover. Another disadvantage of the known device consists in the fact that the lateral adjustment of the cover cannot be carried out precisely.
The invention is, therefore, intended to provide a device of the type described hereinabove which requires extremely little room and extends as little as possible beyond the inner edge of the roof frame surrounding the roof opening, allows precise adjustment of the sliding cover relative to the guide shoe support, both vertically and laterally, and is readily accessible.
This goal is achieved according to the invention by virtue of the fact that the guide shoe support is provided with an adjusting element which is displaceable relative to the lengthwise axis of the vehicle, said element cooperating with the cover by sloping surfaces, and by the fact that on the one hand the cover is connected so that it is displaceable together with the guide shoe support crosswise with respect to the lengthwise axis of the vehicle for lateral adjustment, and on the other hand the adjusting element is connected so that it is displaceable crosswise with respect to the lengthwise axis of the vehicle together with the cover to permit height adjustment.
Because both the height adjustment and the lateral adjustment are accomplished by the displacement of one part in each case, namely, the adjusting element in one case and the sliding cover in the other, as well as the guide shoe support, crosswise with respect to the lengthwise axis of the vehicle and in a horizontal plane, adjusting bolts can be provided to shift the sliding cover and the adjusting element relative to the cover, said bolts being provided so that they are displaceable essentially horizontally and parallel to one another and in vertical slots in a holder mounted on the cover. As a result, the guide shoe support need not be brought out relatively far beyond the inner edge of the roof frame, as in the known design, inasmuch as the bolts are still accessible when they are covered by the roof frame from below. As mentioned earlier, this is especially significant in the case of glass covers.
The adjusting element, according to one embodiment, is provided with a through slot to accept the guide shoe support and can consist of two parts, mounted on the guide shoe support, and, according to another aspect of the invention, is provided with a diagonal groove in its lateral surfaces which run parallel to the lateral edges of the guide shoe support, with an appropriately sloping track for the holder fastened to the cover being engaged appropriately with said groove. Preferably, the adjusting element consists of a visco-elastic plastic such as polyamide, for example.
These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, a single embodiment in accordance with the present invention.